Material-handling apparatus



3 SHEETS-SHUT L iillill Ill!!! FILED NOV. 21. I921.

6 E S 5 E N n W Mar. 13, 1923. 1,448,538.

M. J HOPKWS.

MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

HLED NOVA 21,4921 3 SHEETS SHEET 2 "'1 i n n: l L -1 WITNE55E$ 3 INVENTOR WWW 2 Mar. 13, 1923.

M. J. HOPKINS.

MATERlAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

3 SHEETS SHEEI 3 HLED NOV. 2|. I921.

INVENTOR AT RNEYS WITNESSES:

Patented Mar. 13, 1923.

PATENT OFFICE.

MABTEN JOHN HOPKINS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

MATERIAL-HANDLING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 21, 1921. Serial No. 518,609.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, MARTEN JOHN Horxms, a citizen of the United States,.residing at Rochester, in the count of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Material-Handling Apparatus, of which the fo1- lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus particularly intended for handing building ma terials, whereby sand, gravel, stone, lime, cement, etc. may be conveniently assembled so as to be mixed together in proper proportions for use, and whereby these and other materials such as brick, tile, etc. may be quickly and efficiently moved from one location to another or loaded onto vehicles for transportation.

My inventive idea, consisting of the details of construction of my improved apparatus and in its novel combinations and relative arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described in detail, is capable of embodiment in various mechanical structures, one of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that the structure shown is merely intended as a disclosure of my invention in its preferred form, and that its scope is as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the general assembly of the complete apparatus;

Fig. 2, a side elevation;

Fig. 3, a side elevation of the mixing bin;

Fig. 4, a detail plan of the shift line, anchor cable and ad usting means for the lat ter;

Fig. 5, a side elevation of the cable operating mechanism;

Flg. 6, a view at right angles to Fig. 5,

Fig. 7, a detail showing the,manner of pulleys to the frame egtension of the bin;

Fig. 8 a plan view of a suitable form of scraper for collecting materials;

Fig. 9, a side elevatibn of the scraper;

completes the arrangement relative sp Fig. 10, a fragmentary front elevation of the hopper and Its supports; and

F 1g. 11, a cross section on the line A-A of F1 10. I

Re erringnow to the drawings in detail, it w1ll be observed that the apparatus includes a cable A, known as an anchor line, which 18 stretched between a pair of stakes a and is adapted to be drawn taut by screws a threaded in the stakes a and including swivel eyes a, to which the ends of the line are attached.

Riding on the cable A is a pulley block 0 wh ch carries a pulley 0' and an eye-hook c, which latter has intermediately connected thereto a shiit line B for moving the pulley block along the anchor line to an desired adjusted position, where it is he d by securing the ends of the shift line to the stakes a.

The anchor and shift lines are located to one side of a pile or piles ofmaterial H to be handled, while substantially all of the remaining parts of the ap aratus, consisting essentially of a hopper 1 5 a bin V, and a conveyor R between the hop er and bin, are located on another side oi the material. Means operating between the bin and anchor line for moving the material to the hopper and consists essentlall of a bucket or similar device prefera'bly 1n the form of a drag scraper J as shown having connected to its rear end a line C and to its forward end a line D. The line C is carried rearwardly from the drag scraper towards the anchor line A and is trained over the pulley a, being then carried forward and trained over one or another of the sheaves 1) arranged in relative spaced relation along an arm '0 extending rearwardly from the bin V near one end of the latter, and is finally carried to a winding drum X of an'operating mechanism carried by the bin. Similarly, the line D is carried forward from the drag scraper towards the bin V and is trained over one or another of a second series of sheaves 1; arranged in aced relation along asecond arm v extending rearwardly from the bin ngar its opposite end, and is finally carried to a winding drum V of the operating mechanism mentioned.

\Vith the foregoing arrangement it is apparent that when a pull is exerted on what may be termed the forward line D, and upon corresponding slackening of what may be termed the reverse line C, the drag scraper J will be moved forwardly over the pile of material H and during such movement will become filled with the material, while in a like manner, upon a pull being exerted on the reverse line C, and upon corresponding slackening of the forward line D, the drag scraper will be moved rearwardly over the material so as to be placed in position to be again drawn forwardly and filled.

The operating mechanism for effecting the aforementioned movements of the drag scraper may be of any approved type and placed in any desired location, but for the enefits of compactness and for convenience it is as previously stated desirably mounted on the bin by means of supports X V and Y secured to bin frame members V*, and including reversing levers \V, X whereby both winding drums Vi and X may be caused to be rotated in either direction to respectively slacken and im art the neces sary pull to the lines C and Rotation is imparted to the winding drums from a common drive shaft Y through a pinion on the drive shaft meshing with gears 00 and w on the respective drums, the shaft Y being driven in any desired manner as by means of a motor (not shown) mounted on the frame of the bin.

The hopper E is located between the arms 11 of the bin V and is adapted to receive material gathered by the drag scraper during forward movements of the latter, and to this end a baflle e is provided which is inclined downwardly towards the material H for the pur ose of facilitating forward movements of t e scraper thereover prior to its contents being dumped into the hopper. A suitable frame 6 6 supports the hopper and a sliding door e is provided in one end of the same whereby its contents may be delivered to the conveyor R for elevation into the bin V, conveyor R being supported at a suitable incline by means of the braces 1" between it and the bin, and being driven in any suitable manner as by a sprocket .2 on drive shaft Y connected by a drive chain 2 with a sprocket .2 on the conveyor, a clutch arrangement 2' being provided on shaft y for controlling the conveyors operation.

A partition 11 divides the bin V into two compartments, and a swinging trough r at the upper end of the conveyor R provides means whereby material elevated by the conveyor may be directed into either compartment. A suitably controlled delivery doorway v is provided for each compartment and the bin floor is inclined towards these doorways to facilitate delivery of material therethrough. Both doorways c open into a measuring hopper Y which is provided with a door if controlling its delivery opening. Thus. by manipulating the doors controlling the doorways v", the contents of the bin compartments may be delivered in any desired proportions to the measuring hopper, from which delivery may be made to a vehicle, conveyor or other device as may be desired. Foldable platforms 2- are provided on either side of the measuring hopper upon which an operator may stand in order to manipulate the delivery devices,.

and desirably the bin V is mounted on wheels G, F, whereby it and the mechanisms and devices carried thereby may be conveniently moved from one location to another.

From the foregoing it is apparent that by shifting the pulley block with its pulley (7" along the anchor line A and by training the lines (7 and I) over properly selected sheaves Q), the drag scraper J may be moved back and forth over the material H until the entire pile or any desired portion thereof has been delivered to the bin V, and by particular reference to Fig. 7 it will be observed that the sheaves o are flexibly connected to the arms a" by means of eyebolts 1) so that they may accommodate themselves to any variations in the lines and D during manipulation of the latter.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of my improved apparatus will be clearly understood, but since various modification and desirable additions may be made in and to-the same without departing from its spirit and within the range of ordinary mechanical skill, the present drawings with their related description are to be construed only as a disclosure of my invention in its preferred form, its scope being as defined by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim 1. Material handling apparatus including a drag scraper. a hopper, a pair of arms located one to either side of said hopper, cables for moving the scraper over a pile of material to thereby effect delivery of material to the hopper, and a plurality of spaced sheaves carried by each arm and selectively engageable by the operating cables whereby the drag scraper may be caused to traverse all portions of the pile of material.

2. Material handling apparatus including a drag scraper, a hopper, cables for moving the scraper over a pile of material to efleet delivery of the material to the hopper, for moving the scraper over a pile of ma 1 and a plurality of relatively fixed sheaves terial to efi'ect delivery of the material to carried by the hopper and selectively enthe hop r, and a plurality of relatively gageable by the operating cables whereby spaced s eaves secured to said member and 5 the drag scraper may be caused to traverse selectively engageable by an operating caall portions of the pile of material. ble whereby the scraper may be caused to 15 3. Material handling apparatus including traverse all portions of the pile of material.

a drag scraper, a hopper. a member extending outward from said hopper, cables MARTEN JOHN HOPKINS. 

